City rep. says east El Paso growth ‘not in control’; city approves creation of master plan

East El Paso is seeing rapid growth, both in the number of residents and businesses. But City Rep. Michiel Noe is worried the city is not keeping up with that growth.

“It is developing very rapidly and in my opinion not quite in control. The traffic is steadily getting worse. And we don’t seem to have a really good plan for the long term on how to manage that,” Noe said.

Noe has been working to persuade the city to create a master plan for the east side ever since he was elected. He has repeatedly pointed out the need for more emergency services and city amenities in his district. Noe said his district now has the highest number of residents, but only two fire stations.

“We don’t have a police station. We need libraries, we need recreation centers. We need facilities like senior centers,” Noe said.

At Tuesday’s city council meeting, his work paid off. Council members approved the creation of an east El Paso master plan.

“It is appalling that that has happened, but the growth out there has happened so fast, they just did not keep up with it. So, a plan needs to be set in stone that is going to be kept up with, that is going to be funded and is going to be followed through on,” Noe said.

This is Noe’s last term as a city representative and he wants to make sure the city confirms in writing an east El Paso master plan to catch up and keep up with the growth.

“On the horizon there are going to be a lot more people out there though. And I don’t want the progress that I have made so far to stop just because I am terming out. I want to provide the person, whoever it is, that replaces me a game plan for helping finish the work that I have started in getting all those amenities out there,” Noe said.

Noe said the council will be given an update on the progress of the East side Master Plan every 60 days. The city is also working on a funding plan. Noe wants to see a final version of the plan in nine months.